Bonus spring turkey hunting permits will be on sale starting March 18

An adult male wild turkey, also called a gobbler, longbeard or tom, is photographed walking through a Wisconsin field.(Photo: Ryan Brady, Wisconsin DNR)

The Department of Natural Resources will make 109,771 leftover turkey hunting permits available beginning March 18 for the state's 2019 spring turkey hunting season.

Wisconsin turkey permits and tags were modified two years ago and are now officially called turkey harvest authorizations.

As a result of a state law passed in 2017, hunters are no longer required to validate a physical carcass tag, attach a tag to their turkey or keep the tag with the meat. They are still required to purchase a harvest authorization and carry proof of it when hunting.

As in past years, the leftover authorizations will be first sold by zone, with each having a designated sales date. The permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis; hunters can purchase one per day until the zone and time period sells out or the season closes.

After zone-specific sales dates, all remaining turkey harvest authorizations for all zones will be made available for purchase at 10 a.m. March 23.

During the sale of spring bonus harvest authorizations through Go Wild, the system will use an online queue to assign random numbers to customers who enter the site between 9:45 and 10 a.m.

There is no advantage to entering the site prior to 9:45 a.m., according to the DNR. Customers who enter after 10 a.m. will be added to the queue in order of arrival.

The department's customer service staff recommends turkey hunters who are interested in purchasing a Conservation Patron license do so prior to March 18 to make the bonus harvest authorization process as quick and easy as possible.

Brenna Holtz, 10, of Wales, poses with a wild turkey she shot while hunting with her father, Andrew Holtz, during the 2018 Wisconsin youth turkey hunt. The bird was taken in Jefferson County.(Photo: Andrew Holtz)

Hunters registered 38,885 turkeys in the 2018 Wisconsin spring turkey hunt, a 10% drop in harvest from 2017. Lingering winter weather reduced the turkey harvest in the youth hunt and first time period of the regular hunt last year, according to the DNR.

The agency made 244,218 kill authorizations available this year, on par with 2018. Slightly more than half (135,202) were issued in January during the annual application period and drawing.

As of Friday, the agency did not indicate it was planning any change in the number of leftover tags to be issued in response to tough winter conditions in the northern management zones.

Reports of winter-killed turkeys, which aren't unusual in Wisconsin but still raise concerns among some hunters and wildlife watchers, were surfacing last week in Bayfield and Douglas counties.

Waterfowl meetings

Wisconsin waterfowl hunters will once again be offered a 60-day duck hunting season with a six duck daily bag limit for the 2019 season.

The 2019 migratory bird season format was determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and passed along to the states last week. The DNR will hold public hearings on the state-specific proposal at four sites in Wisconsin, including Monday in La Crosse, Tuesday in Rice Lake, Wednesday in Appleton and Thursday at Wildwood Lodge, N14 W24121 Tower Place, Pewaukee. The meetings begin at 7 p.m.

The DNR will accept public input on the proposed season format at the meetings. Alternatively, comments may be submitted through an online tool, by calling (608) 266-8841 or by writing to Taylor Finiger, Wisconsin DNR, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or Taylor.Finger@wisconsin.gov.

The deadline for input is midnight March 15.

CWD in Marquette County

The DNR confirmed last week that a wild deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease in southeast Marquette County. The CWD-positive deer was an adult doe harvested during the 2018 gun deer season and tested as part of disease surveillance efforts, according to the agency. It is the first CWD-positive wild deer for Marquette County.

As required by state law, the finding creates a three-year baiting and feeding ban in Marquette County and a two-year baiting and feeding ban for Green Lake County. The bans became effective March 1. The detection also designates Green Lake County as a CWD-affected county.

As of March 5, the agency lists 56 of Wisconsin's 72 counties CWD-affected.